Managers can fail, even in China.
Act
surprised: OnePlus phones have a hidden backdoor
This is not a good year for OnePlus, as the
Chinese smartphone maker had to put several fires out. The most
recent issue concerned user privacy, as OnePlus has been found to
collect too much data from its phones, the kind of user-identifiable
information no smartphone maker should get.
A new report shows that all OnePlus phones that
are in use right now, including the OnePlus 5, have a program
installed that can be used to root the handset. It’s just like
having a backdoor in your phone, which could be used by other apps
for spying purposes.
Unlike the user data collection issue, this new PR
headache might not be entirely OnePlus’s fault. But it certainly
doesn’t look good for the company. Either
the firm left the app inside the operating system willingly, fully
knowing what it can do, or it did it by mistake. The
latter offers OnePlus a plausible excuse, but it also implies there’s
a lack of quality assurance testing when it comes to its software.
Perhaps the next product to be banned? (A la
Kaspersky Labs virus scanner)
Surveillance
Cameras Made by China Are Hanging All Over the U.S.
The Memphis police use the surveillance cameras to
scan the streets for crime. The U.S. Army uses them to monitor a
base in Missouri. Consumer models hang in homes and businesses across
the country. At one point, the cameras kept watch on the U.S.
embassy in Kabul.
All the devices were manufactured by a single
company, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology. It is 42%-owned by
the Chinese government.
But will it help locate or identify people who go
off their meds?
For the first time, the Food and Drug
Administration has approved a digital pill — a medication embedded
with a sensor that can tell doctors whether, and when, patients take
their medicine.
The approval, announced late on Monday, marks a
significant advance in the growing field of digital devices designed
to monitor medicine-taking and to address the expensive, longstanding
problem that millions of patients do
not take drugs as prescribed.
… Ameet
Sarpatwari, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, said
the digital pill “has the potential to improve public health,”
especially for patients who want to take their medication but forget.
Patients who agree to take the digital medication,
a version of the antipsychotic Abilify, can sign consent forms
allowing their doctors and up to four other people, including family
members, to receive electronic data showing the date and time pills
are ingested.
A smartphone app will let them block recipients
anytime they change their mind. Although voluntary, the technology
is still likely to prompt questions about privacy and whether
patients might feel pressure to take medication in a form their
doctors can monitor.
Dr. Peter Kramer, a psychiatrist and the author of
“Listening to Prozac,” raised concerns about “packaging a
medication with a tattletale.”
While ethical for “a fully competent patient who
wants to lash him or herself to the mast,” he said, “‘digital
drug’ sounds like a potentially coercive tool.”
(Related).
Of course. If organizations can’t be forced to
comply with regulations, they could be sued into compliance?
Air Force
Could Face Record Lawsuits Over Mass Shooting
The Air Force faces many millions of dollars in
potential liability for the mass shooting at a small-town church in
Texas earlier this month by a former servicemember, legal experts
say.
“I think it’s almost inevitable that the Air
Force will be sued,” said retired Lt. Gen. Richard Harding, former
judge advocate general of the service. “And I think there’s a
case that can be made, you bet.”
I had my Computer Security students “help Bill”
design a hypothetical data center. This could be even more fun!
… Somewhere near the White
Tank Mountains in Arizona, there’s a 24,800-acre stretch of
land that will soon be called Belmont. According to property records
reviewed by the Arizona
Republic, the mostly uninhabited area was recently purchased by
investment firm Belmont Properties LLC, a company that is controlled
by Cascade
Investment, a holding company controlled by Bill Gates. Yes,
that’s a lot of layers distancing the ownership of the soon-to-be
boom town.
… According to the Arizona Republic, the area
will contain “as many as 80,000 homes, 3,800 acres of industrial,
office and retail space, 3,400 acres of open space and 470 acres for
public schools.”
… Many of the towns built
in the US in the early 20th century were owned virtually top to
bottom by the company that employed the citizens. Residents worked
for the company, bought goods from the company store, and paid the
company for their homes. It was a great setup for the company
because it could take back in all of the money it paid out and it
often owned the local government. Working conditions were usually
pretty terrible.
Perspective. Just like TV in the 1960s, except
streaming online.
… Citing several “executives familiar with
the conversations,” AdAge
claims that the push to bring a version of Prime that includes
commercials is well underway. “Amazon is talking about giving
content creators their own channels, and sharing ad revenue in
exchange for a set number of hours of content each week,” one of
the sources said.
Perspective. Moving toward easier online
services?
Skype’s
new Professional account lets online tutors manage bookings, accept
payments, and more
Skype is introducing
a new version of its telecommunications app geared toward online
tutors and small businesses.
Known as the Skype Professional Account, the new
service will initially only be available on desktop and will be
landing shortly in preview for U.S. users, who can apply
for early access now.
… In the longer-term, Skype will likely charge
Professional users for the privilege of using the turbocharged app,
but during its early-stage preview it will be completely free to use.
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